"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance." -- Sir Claus Moser
One of the major elements of the ascendence of the Right has been the denigration and starvation of public education and education in general. Their constant attacks on so-called 'eggheads', 'liberal' college professors, tenure, evolution and scientific reports on areas like global warming, clean air, tobacco, economics and many others show a disturbing 'know nothing' view of the world.
No Child Left Behind is only the latest incarnation of this strategy. Education is no longer thought of as an a priori good, necessary for the development of good citizens. It is now merely a job training program, subject to measuring and 'accountability' to determine it's worth for the need of producing fodder for the priorities of corporations and Cheap Labor Conservatives.
When they do support education, it tends to be to the benefit of the wealthy and their children. Funding of schools by property taxes results in higher quality education for the children of wealth.
This 'dumbing down' of the citizenry has resulted in a decline of civil discourse and the ascendancy of right-wing talk radio. Illogical argument abounds in the public sphere, and bald-faced appeals to prejudice and mis-taken assumptions has cemented the alliance with the Republican Party of many people who are the victims of right-wing policies.
Though it wasn't always the result of public education, this was once a nation that respected and supported the value of education. Anybody who's read the letters of common citizens and soldiers from times past can only be moved by the erudition common Americans could demonstrate.
One of the most important areas that our campaigns for both Congress and the White House must champion is a re-commitment to public education. Our political and economic survival depends on it.